UWindsor student unable to contact family overseas after Bangladesh cuts Internet access amid violent protests

Shabab Chowdhury, 29, has been unable to contact his family in Bangladesh after the government cut off Internet access in response to violent student protests, during which more than 100 students have been killed. (Source: Shabab Chowdhury)

A University of Windsor student is concerned for his family’s safety in Bangladesh amid escalating clashes between the government and students over a contentious job quota system in the country.

Strong discontent over the shortage of good jobs has led students to demand the removal of a quota that reserves 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans from the 1971 war of independence in Bangladesh.

This quota was initially suspended in 2018 following mass student protests.

However, in June, the High Court of Bangladesh reinstated it, leading to a new wave of protests.

Universities have been closed, the government has ordered people to stay home and the internet has been shut down.

"I, myself, have not been able to contact or communicate with my family members in any way. No international calls are going through. Nothing over WhatsApp or Messenger. No social media posts are being seen from the country," said Shabab Chowdhury.

The protests turned deadly on Tuesday after clashes between students at Dhaka University and the police.

Before coming to the University of Windsor for his master's studies, Chowdhury, 29, attended Dhaka University as an undergraduate.

"I studied in the same university where this peaceful protest started and I decided to pursue higher education outside. Now, I feel isolated," he said.

"I'm worried. I'm concerned about the safety of my family, my friends and my fellow students. We don't know what's happening."

Currently, more than 300,000 students in Bangladesh, which was liberated in 1971, take a civil service exam.

Passing it permits students to become public-sector workers. However, only 4,000 of these positions open up annually.

The low number of available federal jobs compared to the number of students who take the exam is why the quota system is at issue.

Bangladeshi citizens who participated in the 1971 war received certificates designating them as "freedom fighters."

They can enter the 30 per cent quota — but so can their children and grandchildren. According to Chowdhury, that's completely unfair.

"A lot of good, hard-working students who have real merit and skill get disqualified or don't get to work for certain government positions where they can make a real impact," he said.

"Some people also will abuse the system by getting fake certificates."

On Sunday, the Bangladesh Supreme Court ruled the veterans' quota be cut from 30 per cent to five per cent.

Despite this, Chowdhury said the government still needs to show "accountability for all the killings."

"I do not know what the situation in my country is. We have not been able to find out — myself, my wife, none of us from the Bangladeshi community have been able to successfully communicate with our families," Chowdury said, adding his sister studies at a private university in Bangladesh and has been "playing her part" to speak out against the quota system.

"So I am also very concerned about her safety as well."

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Reuters is reporting some protest coordinators plan to continue their anti-quota demonstrations until they secure the release of some detained student leaders and the restoration of internet and other cellular services.

On Thursday, three days before the Supreme Court ruling, Bangladeshi students at the University of Windsor held a peaceful protest to show solidarity with their peers overseas.